Coventry Student Wins 2nd Place With Essay

Express Yourself!

YORK — Fourth-grader Andy Cochet of Coventry Elementary School has won second place for his entry in the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival, Inc. 1992 essay contest.

This year's essay topic was "What I think Thanksgiving meant to the Virginia Colonists."

Shirley Baber, Executive Director of the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival, presented Cochet with a certificate and a $150 U.S. Series E. Savings Bond for his winning essay.

He and his family were also guests of the festival, which is held annually in November at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County.

The festival, now in its seventh year, has become an integral part of the commemoration of the First Official Thanksgiving in the English-Speaking world.

Cochet's essay follows:

Prologue: This is all that remains of the diary of Jacob Adams, a Virginia colonist. The burnt diary was found after a Jamestown house fire about 1750. It appears to have been written in 1625. Although there are just a few pages, Mr. Adams talks about whether or not Virginia colonists had anything to be thankful about.

Jacob Adams was one of 400 new settlers who was sent to Virginia in 1609 by the London Company.

``My Diary by Jacob Adams''

October 1625

I heard today that our brothers to the North had a big feast of thanksgiving about four years ago. Gov. William Bradford called all the Pilgrims together after their great harvest to give thanks. They also invited some 90 Wampanoag Indians along with Squanto to join their feast. They celebrated their religious freedom also.

I suppose we in Jamestown have a lot to give thanks for - and yet we have had so many hard times come upon us. Yes, we survived the terrible winter of 1609 to 1610 which we now call the ``starving time.'' What a low point with only 60 men alive. We hoped Virginia would be the land of gold, riches, wealth beyond what was possible in England. But we instead found danger from the Indians, mosquitoes carrying malaria, and ``gentlemen'' who did not know how to work. Captain John Smith helped. Smith decided that we all could manufacture clapboards to be sent back to England. I used a froe. Standing at one end of the log, I hammered the froe until the wood split in half. It is hard work since I am a gentleman.

But I am grateful to be here in Virginia. We have survived a great deal, more than ever the Pilgrims. We survived Governor Lord De la Warr and his tough army system. We survived attacks from the Indians in our Jamestown fort. We survived because of one thing, tobacco. If we have any type of ``feast'' it should be to honor John Rolf. He found a way to grow a mild tobacco that sold well in England. We finally had a cash crop! We must also thank John for marrying Pocahontas. His marriage to the daughter of Powhatan brought peace with the Indians for several years.

Maybe we should thank God that Virginia has finally started to grow. I can remember that by 1616, Virginia had at least eight villages along its rivers. Last year, by the official count, we had over 1,200 colonists.

Still my mind is very troubled. We have experienced a hard, hard life here and I am continually worried that somehow this existence will fail. All our hardships will be for nothing. Two years ago if I remember correctly, some 347 colonists were killed by angry Indians. We cannot ask them to feast with us because they are so mad that we are moving into their hunting and fishing grounds.

What I really think we Virginians must be thankful for is our new local government. We have self-government because each district elected two representatives or burgesses to meet here in Jamestown. On July 30, 1619, 22 burgesses met at a local church to make laws. The governor can always ignore these laws and yet I feel this is a small beginning of self-government. Perhaps our Thanksgiving Day will be in July, when we celebrate not only survival but a new taste of liberty. God bless Virginia!